Your Last Emergency Room Visit:, If you care to share

[Mike03]

What did you go in for?

What did it cost?

How long did it take for you to get in to see your doctor (or a doctor)?

ON EDIT:

Also, are you in an urban, suburban or pastoral environment?

[Ptah]

1. Just go.

Get help for your headache.

Edit to add, "Hypothetically: Severe Headache Lasting A Week or Longer"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x7530659

[Mike03]

15. thanks a lot, I guess. NT

[peacebird]

2. Fairfax Hospital, Virginia - took my son in - upset stomach, fever, vomiting

the nurse in ER took him immediately back, they did blood work and scheduled an emergency appendectomy about two hours later...

I don't recall the cost. This was in 1999.

Why?

[againes654]

3. Chest pain

Turned out to be pleurisy.

Cost: No insurance, so both of my arms, and one leg.

It didn't take long to get in (but I live in a small town, so they weren't busy). I was there for 2 hours.

[stark6935]

6. Cut my wrist

I cut my wrist when I was moving an aquarium. I was pushing it in the truck, and my hand went through it. I went to the ER they watched me and then said, "Don't bleed on the carpet." I almost shit myself when they said that. My wrist was bleeding everywhere, and you could see the fat, and muscle. I don't know what it cost, because I was on my parents insurance, but I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Took about 10 minutes to see a doctor, and it was in the city.

[ProfessorGAC]

65. Same Here

Being 50 and having my BP elevated by the stress of the pain, they kept me overnight. Turned out to be gastritis. I was in the examining room in a split second and the care was outstanding.

This was at a Class I Trauma Center, so they have every specialty on staff 24/7.
The Professor

[ck4829]

4. They gave me painkillers just because

Wasn't even in any real pain.

Then I went into anaphylactic shock, probably because of the painkillers.

I only went in for a hurt foot, for a while it got a little scary.

It cost hundreds of dollars though, just for an x ray and me being in the emergency room.

[littlebit]

5. Randolph county hospital

Last friday night. Girlfriend has been vomiting for 8 hours. She was taken right back and saw the doctor within 20 minutes. It cost her $50. She has really good insurance.

[Skittles]

45. what was wrong with the poor thing

if you don't mind me asking

[distantearlywarning]

7. Broken foot.

Turned out to be a bad sprain.

It took about 1/2 hour or so to get in to see someone once I got there. I live in an urban environment, the ER is a very urban ER in the middle of a fairly rough neighborhood.

I don't know how much it cost beyond my co-pay - I have very good health insurance because I work for an institution connected to a major US research hospital.

[MiniMe]

8. Had a really bad case of bronchitis last May and couldn't breathe

Talked to the Doctor, he told me to go to the ER. They took me back right away, did an EKG and checked my oxygen level. Took me straight back to the chest unit. Not a heart problem, just the bronchitis. So I got treated right away and got good care. The doctor came pretty quickly and they started albuteral treatments and lots of IV stuff.

I don't remember the cost, but it cost me $50 for the copay, insurance covered the rest.

I live in the Washington DC suburbs.

[RB TexLa]

9. Broke my arm, went to a hospital, they wouldn't tell me if they were in my HMO

second hospital 30 miles down the road wouldn't tell me if they were in my HMO and threatened to force me to purchase medical services from them because I was bleeding, went 20 miles more and found a hospital that would answer that they were in my HMO and got my arm set and couple of stitches. Was 12 years ago.

[LostinVA]

63. Didn't you have a thread about that just last year?

[RB TexLa]

79. No, I hadn't even thought about that for a long time

[ColesCountyDem]

10. I received excellent care.

What did you go in for?

An attack of diverticulitis.

What did it cost?

Fortunately, due to my local hospital's income-based 'charity care' (Hill-Burton funded), I paid nothing; the hospital wrote off the bill, which was almost $2000.

How long did it take for you to get in to see your doctor (or a doctor)?

It took about 20 minutes to be seen by the E.R. doctor, and another 20 minutes to be seen by the surgeon on-call. I was treated conservatively (IV antibiotic therapy and morphine sulfate @ the E.R., and 'scrips for 2 other oral antibiotics and hydrocodone, after discharge. My primary-care physician saw me @ 7:30 the next morning for a follow-up, and again 5 days later.

ON EDIT:

Also, are you in an urban, suburban or pastoral environment?

I'm in a rural/pastoral environment.

[iris5426]

75. Husband went in for the same thing...

Was his first diagnosis though, we were visiting family last January in Annapolis, MD. Great hospital and they were very prompt in seeing him at first, though they thought it was appendicitis and offered us the option of just having an appendectomy! Since we didn't have any insurance we thought some tests first might be the way to go, and I'm glad we did since it turned out not to be his appendix.

There was a lot of waiting after the initial exam, we were there for a total of about 10 hours! Bill was over $3000 and we are still paying it off.

He hasn't had a problem since (knock on wood) and still eats nuts and all the stuff they say you aren't supposed to, so I'm not even convinced that's really what it was...

[Hotler]

11. September 1991 3000lbs. of steel plate fell on me.

broke my pelvis. left leg, and a whole shit load of internal damage. I saw the doctor right away. spent an easy 3 months in the hospital. Non weight bearing for 8 months, colostomy for a year. The bill was a tad over $250,000.00, work comp picked up the tab. This happened in Denver, Colorado.

[Skittles]

46. :O

are you alright now? Any lasting effects?

[magellan]

12. Ruptured appendix

Was seen to immediately after presenting at ER in the late evening. Took a while to determine it was my appendix (including a CAT scan) but once they were sure I was whisked into emergency surgery in the dead of night. Cost: $25K. We scraped together and paid about $5K of that as the bills rolled in; then the hospital and surgeon scrubbed their bills due to our income level. (They even turned down our requests to pay something of their bills.) I have no complaints whatsoever, I was treated excellently from start to finish. We live in suburban/rural.

[FirstLight]

13. I live in rural mountain CA town

...went in for strep throat that I had for over a week, the "clinic" turned me away because I was upset and they said it was just a virus...
went into the ER, told the doc I couldn't swallow for over three days, and was getting scared because the rest of my body was getting weaker...I also have an autoimune dysfunction...

he said the word virus and I demanded he do a strep test - and he wouldn't listen to me and actually walked out of the room as I was telling him I couldn't afford to be sick anymore and I just needed help because this was NOT getting better, it was getting worse!

the head nurse came in and suggested I see a psychiatrist because I was suffering from depression
(and threatened to call security if I didn't leave)
NOT that I was FRUSTRATED because they wouldn't listen to me!

I have Medi-CAL, and they said it had nothing to do with my insurance that I was treated that way

I have not gone back, but am terrified if something happens to my kids, they will recognize me and treat us badly again -
this is a really small town..

[shireen]

21. that is a scary account!

Are you doing OK now?

Rural healthcare tends to be neglected because insurance agencies don't find it profitable. Sounds like you were at the mercy of some pretty incompetent people. I've had several emergency room visits, where I encountered some pretty bad doctors. And I live in Baltimore, which has some of the best medical resources in the country (Johns Hopkins University and Univ. of Maryland, close to NIH)! Fortunately, I have a caring and smart doctor who takes really good care of me.

I would suggest some kind of community action. Talk to your neighbors, find out if they have had similar experiences. Then contact an organization involved in rural health to discuss your concerns. http://oshpd.ca.gov/rhpc/ They may be able to help you figure out how to deal with that kind of arrogant treatment!

In this day and age, with all the advances we have in technology and communication, you are entitled to the best possible care! There is no excuse for that kind of incompetence!

Hang in there. ... :hug:

[sergeiAK]

14. Christmas Eve 2004, around midnight

Had a piece of a grinding disk sneak behind my face shield and get into my eye. Corneal abrasion, painful but not serious. Took ~30 min to be seen, cost me ~$50, cost the insurance company much more I'd imagine.

Urban NC

[Beausoir]

53. Oh man...those are really painful.

[mdmc]

16. $50.oo

Frozen shoulder
I was seen within minutes.
Urban.

[madrchsod]

17. sent to the er with weird chest pains

and since i have heart problems i was admitted to icu for an over night observation...turned up nothing. they think it was a chest wall pull or something like that. cost 25,000 but several months later the hospital wiped it off....

[AlCzervik]

18. about 6 years ago on thanksgiving day, i had a temp of almost 106.

turns out i had pneumonia, i don't remember a whole lot except they took me down for xray and then they gave me a shot of antibiotics in the ass which i don't even remember, gave me some more antibiotics to take at home, some awesome cough syrup with codeine and sent me on my way, it cost $15 for the visit and then around $20 for both meds.

[peacetalksforall]

19. Why does everyone start answering the question without asking

who Mike 03 is and why he/she is asking?

[Deja Q]

24. Because he is Agent Mike and wants to look you up the same way he looks up Agent Carol's skirt

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[shireen]

28. this is a place for us to talk, share experiences ....

THose of us who are comfortable talking about it have responded. Others may choose to remain quiet, and that's their right.

I find it interesting to hear other stories from people around the country.

[gateley]

30. Because a friend asked for information and input.

And if he wants to tell us why, he will.

[Skittles]

47. I like Mike

he's asking a question and I'm answering - what's the big deal?

[ileus]

20. In and out in less than an hour.

Took my son in for a object he'd stuck up his nose.
We arrived at 11AM and for the first time ever the ER was empty 1/19/08.
Seen my friend who's a PA there and she pulled it out and we we're on the road by 12:05.
I'm one of 3 or 4% of our patients that actually pays (98% are Medicare, Medicaid, or no pay)

Even with our hospital insurance I still owe 168 on a 210 dollar bill...LOL talk about getting hosed.

In my sincere opinion the problem isn't hospitals it's bleeping insurance companies.

[SidDithers]

42. OK, gotta ask...

what was up his nose? :)

Sid

[ileus]

56. He'd shoved one of his sisters project beeds up his nose.

[Missy Vixen]

22. My husband, December 2007

My husband had a panic attack after a horrible week at the office. It scared the living daylights out of both of us. He was in the emergency room for almost five hours. The bills are still rolling in, but it looks like those five hours will be costing us somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000 after insurance pays their portion.

Suburban hospital.

He's doing well.
Julie

[haele]

23. Hubby had chest pains, took him to Urgent Care clinic at 7pm -

Took 3 minutes from the moment we told the receptionist "unusual chest pains, tightness, and difficulty breathing"to get him hooked up to an EKG, oxygen, et all; he had a nurse dedicated to him from the time they took him in the back to the time they called the ambulance to transport him to the ER for further tests at 9pm at night. Urgent care brought up his charts (they are affiliated with one of the major hospital organizations in the area), called his doctors (GP and rhumetologist), and ran a series of blood tests, X-rayed him, before they indicated they didn't know what was going on and he had to see a cardiologist and get MRI's and CAT scans to see what else might be going on.
They kept him overnight, and he had a nurse nearby at all times.
Very good treatment - but of course, we had insurance, and lived in a major city.

Haele

[annabanana]

25. In my suburban environment...

my 21 year old sliced his finger near to the bone washing a glass in the sink...

Bleeding profusely, we went to the ER around midnight, got a little triage then waited for about 1/2 hour for the Doc to stitch him up (15 of them).

Our HMO covered everything but a $50 copay...

[Duer 157099]

26. I haven't had my last ER visit yet

And when I do, I won't be able to post back here about it!

[shireen]

27. November 2006 ...

What did you go in for?
internal bleeding, probably stomach ulcer.
I knew exactly what had happened, and tried to tell the doctors. But for some reason, they didn't believe me and continued to act mystified about my super-low blood pressure and abnormal blood tests for most of the night. Finally, they called my doctor to report the test results ... she told them: internal bleeding! Duh!

what did it cost?
A lot, but my insurance covers 100% emergency room visits. But the idiots need a *referral* from my doctor to the ER!!! Geez! The last thing I'm thinking about under those circumstances is contacting my doctor's office for a referral! Fortunately, they accept back-dated paperwork.

How long did it take for you to get in to see your doctor (or a doctor)?
Since I was taken by ambulance, i got immediate attention. (During other visits, it took as long as 3+ hours. On one visit, I was sitting in the waiting room with my neighbor, having *trouble breathing*! Totally ignored, even tho' we were sitting just a few feet away from the nurses station. Finally, my neighbor went to a nurse and asked that I get immediate attention. Another 15 minutes or so went by before a nurse came to take my vitals. So much for triage ... )

Also, are you in an urban, suburban or pastoral environment?
Suburban, 5 minutes drive from 2 major Baltimore hospitals.

Compared to many people, I am very very fortunate to have good medical insurance, wonderful doctors, and live close to two of the hospitals where I've "done time". And still, I manage to encounter some pretty awful doctors in the ER! :eyes:

[Thothmes]

29. Chest Pains

Went to the ER at Langley AF hospital. Saw a physician within 5 minutes of entering the building. Spent 3 days in the hospital. Cost was about $12.00 to pay for the food for 3 days.

[tammywammy]

31. August 1997

I woke up with pain in the side abdominal area. I also had a horrible fever. My parents took me to the ER, I was just a couple of weeks shy of turning 17.

It didn't take too long for them to get to me I remember, since everyone thought it was appendicitis. I stayed in the hospital for 2 days.

I don't know how much it costs, but I do know my parents paid extra so that I could have a private room and not have to share with like a 5 year old.

This is technically a suburb, but there's over 300,000 people living in the city.

[Zookeeper]

32. A couple of years ago when I was trimming a tree and a huge....

branch swung down and slammed me in the lower back. (Hello!)

I went to Urgent Care and had an x-ray and they took a urine sample to check for bleeding. Fortunately, the worst damage was pain and one heck of a large and colorful bruise.

I suspect my wait would have been very long had I gone to the emergency room. I had a $15.00 co-pay for Urgent Care, which is located in a city.

[Booster]

33. Had my gall bladder removed. Total cost $44,000 (thank God

I have insurance) cost for me around $4,000. Took 3 hrs to see a doctor and I live in Pasadena, CA.

[crim son]

34. Four years ago a windowpane slammed down on my

daughter's hand. Went to the emerg & there was nothing wrong. Since we took her there, the cost was $15. We have great insurance though after the divorce I won't be in on the party. :)

edited for misleading subject line

[CRK7376]

35. About 5 wweks ago

we got to visit the local ER. My 10 year old daughter broke her arm playing basketball with her brothers. Of course she was wearing those stupid heelies at the time....I don't have room to be too critical....when I was 10 or 11 I fell of a skateboard and broke my arm.....We use the military Tricare Prime for the kids, didn't cost us. The wait was about an hour. Business was slow on this day at the small clinic we went to...Cast is off, daughter is out there once again playing basketball with brothers.....

[Lorien]

36. I live in a large city. Went in for a severe gallstone attack (I thought it

was a burst appendix). Waited eight hours in screaming pain and finally gave up. I got a cab home because I figured that if I were going to die, it may as well be at home (fortunately my mom came down and she figured out what it was and gave me a Chinese natural remedy for it that worked). The ER had been PACKED with screaming, bleeding, vomiting people-most obviously poor. The guy next to me was slumped over in his wheelchair. Another person waiting said that he had come in the night before and had been there over 14 hours. I knew that if a heart attack victim had to wait 14 hours then I would likely never see a doctor. "Health care" in this nation is a fucking joke. If I could learn how to perform surgery on myself I would!

Oh, and the ER charged me $398.00 for signing me in. :eyes:

[Fuzz]

37. Well, I had a strange pain in my head and, well a picture is worth 1k words. ..

[SidDithers]

43. Only one? Jeez, you had it easy...

Sid

[havocmom]

38. 170 mile round trip for chest pains and shortness of breath after bout with flu

First time I had real knock you down fast flu in almost 30 years. Was getting better then one night, lots of heart attack symptoms so long trek to urgent care. Swell, no doctor available so seen by a very new PA.

Blood gasses were good but she decided I was having a killer asthma attack (asthma? That was new) on top of pneumonia. No EKG nor that blood test for the proteins from heart attack even though I told them family history of heart disease AND I am in my 50s with high blood pressure.

Got a nebulizer treatment which did help the chest pain/pressure and made breathing easier. Then, owing to the small size of the town where some sort of medical care was available, we had to kill a few hours before a pharmacy opened up and the medical supply place opened so I could rent a nebulizer machine and get the Rx's filled.

Havocdad was so exhausted he had to pull off the road on the trip home to catch 40 winks.

Left house for urgent care about 11:30 PM. Got home after 11 AM. Total cost, over $700 and no, the insurance did not cover anything but the RX and the nebulizer. Why? Because they didn't cover urgent care provided by a PA instead of an MD, even though there WAS NO MD willing to take the call. Yes there are SEVERAL MDs in the small town, and they are begging for patients. Guess when doctors want bankers' hours, patients are hard to come by...

Next time I need urgent care, I may just have the horse shoot me.

[UALRBSofL]

40. Mine is a long story and it may be a little long but you don't have to read it, could be boring

I'm an RN for the past 20 years. The past 10 years as a travel nurse. June 2006 I was working in a hospital in Cleveland, MS. Went to work in the ICU friday, had flu like symptoms, I told the unit clerk, I think I have West Nile Virus. Next day, same thing but the FLS were a lot worse. I was taking tylenol and advil. Sunday went to work, but went to the ER, was admitted, had fever of 104. The on-call DR came to see me in my room, I had fever, my vision was poor and I was confused. After a week, I lost all muscle control. Unable to walk or move my arms, couldn't hold my head up. Developed severe neuropathy. Developed encephalitis and was getting worse. They transferred me to UAMS, in LR, ARK. Was there a few weeks, sent me home, after being diagnosed with West Nile Virus. These 2 hospitals did every test in the book, every scan, blood work, spinal taps. Got home to florida, went back to the ER with belles palsy sx's, admitted for another week, went through every test again. Finally went home, went through OP and PT for 6 months to learn to walk again and use my arms and hands, strengthen my neck muscles. Anyway, my right arm hasn't come back and my vertebrae in my neck is misaligned. I have brain fog a lot. My neurologists has me on a bunch of meds. Now, my bills were around $100,000. Bills were paid, but here's the thing, I'm unable to work, so, lost my insurance. My partner and family have been great taking care of me physically, mentally and financially. So, I spend most of my time now at home, not getting out much, reading, tv, and, spending time on DU. Here's the tragedy of social security and medicare/Medicaid. After getting sick in june 06, my partner applied for S.S. I was turned down 2 times, hired an attorney, was just granted disability 2 weeks ago. Here's the thing. In florida they turned my down for Medicaid. Reason, I have to be determined disabled by social security. So, here I am, no insurance. I take a handful of pills a day from my neurologist. I get them free from the drug company's because of no income and they would cost around $1,000/mth out of pocket. Now, approved for SSDI, but medicare starts 2 years and 5 months after your initial illness. Then, we call Medicaid office who said I would get approved when I got approved for SSDI. So they look up and make sure I was approved for SSDI. They look at when SSDI starts, said it will start mid april. Then she said, we have to turn you down. I said, but you told us a year ago I would have to get approved for SSDI, now your telling me I'm not approved? That's right because your SSDI will be too much. I said, my neurologist wants me to have an MRI of my brain because of my brain fog, MRI of my neck and maybe surgery to realign my vertebrae, and, my vision is getting bad. Also, he wants me to have an MRI of my right arm to see if I developed scar tissue or whatever since I'm only able to lift it half way. I said, what am I suppose to do, medicare starts january 09. She said, if you can prove you spend $1,600 a month on anything medical, meds, dr's etc. we can approve low income Medicaid. Well, I don't pay that for care, my meds right now are free, my neurologist charges us $90 a visit but the normal charge is $240 a visit. So, basically I have no medical coverage, and hopefully I can get my meds pretty soon for a 6 month period before my SSDI starts in april which will disqualify me for free medications to hold me over till january when medicare starts. The problem is, I'm right at the top of the SSDI scale and so I am disqualified for medicaid, plus medicare has a thing you have to wait 2 years and 5 months for it to start after your initial date of illness. I was a travel nurse the past 10 years because the income so a lot better then a full time job in your home town. So, I'll have to wait till jan for the things my neurologist wants me to have done. However, If I have an emergency, I'll go to baptist hospital ER where I use to work before I started traveling. My care would be free, you know, indigent care and they get local, state, and federal funding for that. My family tried to get private insurance from all the different company's but as soon as you tell them I have West Nile Virus there response is you don't qualify because of your pre-existing illness and the underwriters would turn you down. You know, I have taken care of hundreds of people with medicare/Medicaid over the past 20 years and never thought how complicated and full of red tape was involved. Also, all the donut holes, and the way care is cherry picked. I mean my SSDI is too much so I'm out of luck with care until january 09. I think this whole system needs to be scrapped and UHC needs to be implemented. I think we should keep SSI/SSDI but get rid of medicare/Medicaid.

[riderinthestorm]

39. Me: Colles wrist fracture (common for women, falling)

Spent about 6 hours in ER total, no charges from insurance or co-pay for followup surgery and therapy. My total bill was somewhere in the neighborhood of $75k. That was in 2002.

July 2007: Husband went in to ER at 1 am for severe abdominal pain. He was seen immediately as they/we suspected appendicitis. Turned out to be Stage IV lymphoma. Many months and many doctor bills later - probably more than $500k at this point, we still haven't paid any more than the initial $30 co-pay when we went to the ER initially.

Suburban environment.

[clyrc]

41. I'm an American expat so I don't know if my experience "counts"

but last weekend i went to the emergency room for a possible miscarriage. The visit cost me nothing, but the hospital stay, for 2 and a half days, was 136. The cost covered a D and C, and everything else, so that's not bad. Back in the States, I would have had the heartbreak of a miscarriage combined with the fear of having to pay for it. The health care I get here is a big reason why I'm not considering living back in the States anytime soon.

And, if it matters, the hospital was very close, I got in immediately, and I live in a suburban area.

[Skittles]

44. I took my boss in the middle of the night (reaction to medication)

no wait, she was seen pretty much right away; do not know what the cost was (if she had the same insurance as me I believe she would have had to pay a $50 ER charge - diagnosis turned out to be dehydration) - I'm in a wealthy Dallas suburb (although I myself am NOT wealthy - working class gal living in an apartment :))

[Breeze54]

48. I can't remember but it may have been a sprained ankle?

I had insurance through my job. I think I paid a co-pay...
I really can't remember but I still have the crutches
and the leg brace they gave me...

I got in to the exam room in less than 10 minutes...
I live in a suburban setting in the New England area now.

BUT?

When I lived in another suburban setting in the SouthWest/NV?
I waited hours with a gallbladder attack and the only reason
I got bumped ahead is because I projectile vomited on the intake
nurse... that got me into the hallway of the ER and I saw a DR
right away or rather, he saw me. He walked down the hall, examining
each patient for about 15 seconds.... He said I was 'red hot'.

[Horse with no Name]

49. It was 6 years ago

I went in because I was sicker than a dog.
They did an xray and labs and told me I was okay.
But I was still sick.
Had reason to get those records and give to my doctor a couple years after that...found out that I had a very high WBC count and the chest x-ray showed pneumonia and the radiologist had suggested a follow-up x-ray which I was never told about.
It cost close to $800--semi-rural area.
There is a reason you shouldn't get your healthcare in an ER. This is precisely why.

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

50. Wesley West ER

A little over a year ago, and after hours. I was very short of breath, and running a temp of 101°, and it turned out I had a raging case of bronchitis. It was so bad, I had to have a breathing treatment...and I'm not asthmatic. They did a very good job, and I didn't have a long wait. For the record, this is a satellite ER, and they deal with everything but major trauma and imminent childbirth. It's in the city limits, but a semi-suburban environment.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

51. New Hanover Regional (Wilmington NC)

on Dec 15... miscarriage, for what turned out to be a chemical pregnancy - that's when your body prepares for pregnancy because an egg was fertilized, but the egg doesn't implant, so you have pregnancy symptoms and tests come up positive, but after a while nothing happens. Very cold and uncaring. My SO had to ask for a couple of warm blankets. I was bleeding heavily and I had no padding and was freezing. The doctor comes in and looks at me like I'm a liar, because their pregnancy test is negative. My SO goes on to explain that he was there when I took all the tests - we got the usual pee on a stick ones and the digital ones. All said the same thing. I was treated like a liar; I'm actually surprised the doctor didn't know about chemical pregnancies. I looked up on the internet and didn't take me long to find out that's what happened in my case. But I had no ob/gyn check at all. They just assumed I was having a late period. I was in there from 5 am until about noon. The cost was over $2300, which included a couple of ultrasounds. A very bad experience on many levels, not in the least on the emotional level. It took about 2 hours before I was able to go in and get in a bed, even though the ER wasn't exactly busy. In fact, some of the people who arrived after I did, went in before I did and got out before I did as well. I guess the triage system doesn't work all that well, because a miscarriage is a bit more serious than some of the complaints some of these people had. Once I was in, it took about 1 hour to see a doctor. The hospital is in an urban setting.

[Vinca]

52. I have no insurance. The last time I needed stitches I stayed home

and patched myself with Super Glue. It works great and costs a whole lot less.

[dysfunctional press]

68. that's exactly what super-glue was originally developed for, by the navy.

i use it too, but not on the big deep ones- i had a nasty slice from a cat food can- it took several stitches at the er and cost me $400. (no insurance)

[Vinca]

72. That's amazing. Years ago - when we still had insurance -

that same exact thing happened to my husband on a cat food can. It was one of the worst cuts I've ever seen. He did go to the ER and a surgeon stitched him up. Your case is the only "attack of the cat food can" injury I've ever heard of other than my husband's.

[noel711]

54. a year ago....I had chest pains...

my spouse took me to St. LUke's hospital, in Bethlehem PA
about 20 minutes from our home.

I hardly sat down in waiting room when they had a gurney out there, took me
back and started treatment, everything appropriate for a possible heart attack.

About an hour later they moved me into the heart unit;
throughout the day (and night!) I had appropriate tests, etc.

I got very sick, but it was from the nitro patch on my upper arm
(who knew those patches caused migraine type headaches?)

Luckily, it wasn't a heart attack, but was caused by my overuse
of over the counter pain relief tablets for a sore back.

I went home the third day. I was very impressed with how I was treated.

My health care insurance carrier then was Aetna.
After all was said and done, we had a bill of under $1,000 to pay for
out of pocket, which was a blip on the screen of what it would have been
had we had no insurance.

And I can't say enough about the care. It was excellent.

[mainegreen]

55. Wife had food poisoning, took an hour, cost $100 w/insurance.

Live in the city, there are three emergency rooms all close by (within a mile or so).

[leftynyc]

57. 3 years ago

I almost sliced off my finger (don't try removing those plastic tops on sesame oil bottles with a sharp knife please). Got looked at right away - not really surprising as blood was gushing out of my finger. Got 7 stitches and it cost me $90. My BlueCross BlueShield picked up the rest. White Plains Hospital in White Plains NY (surburban).

[tjwash]

58. Grossmont Emergency San Diego...had an infected finger that needed lanced.

I have what many consider great insurance too, and it still ended up costing me 500 bucks after all was said and done.

Don't do emergency rooms if you can help it. Go to an urgent care if aqll possible.

[notadmblnd]

59. you would be hard pressed to find any medical records on me

last time I was treated in emergency, about 42 years ago. Broken arm, age 7. Gave birth to my son 15 years ago. Stayed one night in hospital haven't been to Dr. since 6 month check up after he was born.

My son, I took to walk in clinic two years ago, broken thumb. Cost=0, traditional BCBS. In and out, less than an hour.

[Tracer]

60. Heart Attack, December '07.

Caused by an anaphylactic reaction to chemotherapy.

Taken by ambulance to the ER and treated IMMEDIATELY by waiting doctors.

Wonderful care all around (I'm OK).

Cost so far? $23,936 (my share $1,373, and well worth it).

Suburbia.

[LibertyLover]

61. December 28, 2007

My husband had been sick most of December with an attack of diverticulitis. He had been to his primary care physician and been put on a course of antibiotics. As soon as that course was finished, he wound up in the ER. They couldn't find any reason for the pain and told him to see his gastroenterologist. He did, and got put on a second round of even stronger antibiotics, which finished on the 24th of December. On the 25th he was reasonably well, but on the 26th he was back to being in pain. He called his gastroenterologist again and got an appointment for Friday, the 28th of December. That day I took our 5 year old daughter to work with me so that he could get to the doctor's appointment without the kid. About 1 pm I got a call from him asking me to please come home immediately. The gastroenterologist wanted him to go to the ER and be admitted for a course of inter venous antibiotics. He figured he'd drive home and I could then drive him to the ER. I immediately started putting stuff away and bundling up the kid. 10 minutes later he called again to say that I should just go directly to the ER because they had decided to send him by ambulance. So my daughter and I hustled out the door, hopped on Metro, got to the car and drove from New Carrollton metro station to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. When I walked in the ER waiting room, it was full. I could see people with IVs waiting, which I thought was odd. I went to the patient advocate's desk to ask about my husband. She was rather rude, saying that he had been in the ER over an hour, to which I replied that I had had to come in from my office in DC. She said she'd check on him and turned back to her companion to chat. I found a seat and got my daughter settled and waited. 20 minutes later I went back to the desk to ask about my husband. The advocate then looked at my daughter and demanded to know who she was (disclaimer - daughter is adopted internationally and does not look like my husband or me). I'm afraid that I got a bit testy and said that she was my daughter. The advocate then said that they would be bringing my husband out shortly. :wtf: Well, that's what they did. He was wheeled out with an IV in his arm to wait to see the doctor. They had drawn blood and done an ultrasound checking for gallstones. The ER doctor had decided that his gastroenterologist didn't know anything, had not admitted him as instructed and hadn't given him anything for pain. What followed was an exercise in frustration. We waited for 4 hours and then got called up. It was not to see a doctor however, it was to be told that they would have to draw more blood because they hadn't taken enough earlier. My husband's patience snapped. He demanded to speak to a supervisor. The nurse told him that he couldn't talk to her like that. He said that he wanted to see the supervise. He was told that he couldn't because they had left for the day. He said that he had been there for over 4 hours at this point, his doctor's orders were not being followed and that he wanted to speak to a supervise. The nurse walked away and got another nurse. We went through the whole litany again, with the same result. He had no right to speak to them in a raised voice, he had no right to demand to see a supervise. Finally, a third nurse, called in to referee the problem, looked at his chart and decided that he needed to be seen by a doctor. So he was taken back to cubicle, more blood was drawn and finally he was given something for the pain. An ER doctor finally came in to see him and said that the ultrasound had been negative for gallstones and that they had no idea about what was causing his pain. My husband once again explained about the diverticulitis and his gastroenterologist's orders about admittance and IV antibiotics. The ER doctor looked at the chart again and said that they now wanted to do an MRI to make sure it wasn't appendicitis before starting the antibiotics. At this point it was close to 7 pm and I had to leave to feed the kid. I left the ER thinking that my husband was going to be admitted. So, I put the kid down for bed and went to bed myself around 11 pm. At 2:30 am I got a call from my husband. They were declining to admit him, had given him a script for darvocet and told him to see his gastroenterologist again. So I had to throw some clothes on, rouse the kid and put her in the car and drive over to the ER to pick him up. Later that morning his gastroenterologist's office called to speak to me to see how he was doing. They were surprised when I passed the phone to him. But they chatted and decided to try treating him not just for diverticulitis but irritable bowel syndrome. They called in a scrip to our pharmacy, I went to pick it up and shortly after taking it, my husband finally got relief.

Just last night Anne Arundel Medical Center called asking for a donation. I wasn't home, so my husband answered and told them pointblank that we were paying medical bills, his treatment the last time he'd been to the ER had been awful and that they could not expect to receive any other monies from us.

[CTyankee]

62. Last April, Yale-New Haven Hospital, admitted by my surgeon. It was

a complication from elective surgery I had had to prevent recurring attacks of diverticulitis. I developed a total blockage of my colon due to scar tissue formation after the surgery. I was not able to keep anything down. My surgeon's office called ahead and they were waiting for me at the ER.

The bad thing about presenting in the ER with vomiting is that they shove a nasal-gastric tube down your nose to your stomach. Your gag reflex makes this almost unbearable.

I ended up having two more abdominal surgeries, resulting in a temporary colostomy, all due to basically "bad luck." Some people develop scar tissue after surgery and some don't. Luck of the draw. I was in the hospital for 6 weeks and in rehab 2 weeks. And I lost 30 lbs. which made me look gaunt. I have regained 15.

It was a long recovery. The colostomy was reversed 6 months later. I am fine now. A good upshot is that I will always be on the slim side, having had so much of my "digestive material" removed (reducing the amount of calories my body can digest). I have no problems, altho I need to tone my abdominal muscles.

The reason I had opted for the elective surgery was to avoid having what I felt was inevitable: I would have a big attack, possibly resulting in a rupture of my colon and, possibly, peritonitis (which can be fatal). On balance, it turned out that my colon was in such bad shape I would have had an acute attack and the surgery and its inevitable outcome of scar tissue would ensue anyway. All I did was avoid an emergency situation.

I paid nothing since I am on Medicare. New Haven is a medium sized city.

[0007]

64. Ran a piece of copper wire down deep into my thumb nail.

It was a Friday night in NYC. It took about five hours before I saw a doctor. Workman's compensation took care of it.

[dysfunctional press]

66. sliced my hand on a cat food can a few years back, when i had no insurance...

it was about 8:30 on a weekday morning- i got right in, with no waiting- it took several stitches and the bill was $400.

st.francis hospital in evanston, urban.

[live love laugh]

67. Banged up knee from car accident. Took 20 minutes to see dr. $399. In WI n/t

[MissB]

69. I sawed the top of my finger.

Nicked a nerve in the process. I was cutting some branches in the yard and stupidly wasn't wearing gloves.

It cost me $50.

I had to wait about a half an hour to see a doctor.

I am in in urban environment.

[ThatsMyBarack]

70. September 13, 2001 (suburban location)

Two days after 9/11, I cut my chin open falling on the ice at skating practice. Took me an hour to get in because "there were no beds available" (quite understandable at the time). When I got in, I got about 10 stitches. I went back a twice during the week after for wound cleanup and to get the stitches out. Other than than the initial long wait, the staff treated me just fine. I even got a discount with whatever insurance I had at the time! I can't remember the overall cost, though--I managed it.

[Tab]

71. Dizziness and "inability to function", I guess

I was getting dizzy and collapsed a few times; my wife wanted me to go to the ER but I refused until I found I couldn't get across the living floor, then I gave in.

My wife drove me there. They saw me effectively immediately (maybe 5 to 10 minutes - not sure, I wasn't totally coherent), it was cool - the private ER room I was in had a TV playing The Godfather.

Turns out some of my enzyme levels were off, and my potassium was way low. They gave me some liquid potassium (yuck), an IV of helpful stuff, and some inline Ativan (yum). Had a slight lung infection too. Got my first CAT scan.

I fortunately have decent insurance. It was a $75 co-pay (a regular MD visit would be $20, but ER is $75).

I'm in suburbia in New England.

[KatyMan]

73. Another expat story

What did you go in for?

My wife collapsed at the gym in the locker room, and was vomiting, so an ambulance came and took her to the hospital. The ambulance driver decided she overdid it at the gym, so they didn't see her right away. We waited about two hours, with my wife being sick in the waiting room until finally someone gave her a place to lie down. Once she was seen, they gave her some meds and kept her overnight (turned out to be something called labyrinthitis).

What did it cost?

Nothing, it was done on the NHS in the UK.

How long did it take for you to get in to see your doctor (or a doctor)?

About 2 hours.

Also, are you in an urban, suburban or pastoral environment?

Urban environment.

I have to say it's no surprise that UK hospitals have MRSA problems, I thought their infection control processes were basically non existant. When the doctor put an IV line in my wife's hand, he didn't wear gloves, and asked me to open the package for a syringe for him. Nobody seemed to be wearing gloves.

Edit for spelling

[robcon]

74. Split open scalp from accident. Got staples to close the wound.

Good experience. NYC suburbs.

[TheWraith]

76. When I was, I think, eight. Head wound caused by my dog accidently landing on me.

He was lunging at a ball someone had thrown at me, and he knocked me down, claws dragging across my forehead. Cost, I don't know. Took some hours to see a doctor. I can't besure, since my time sense was a little distorted (what with the bleeding), but I recall that it was something like 4-5 in the afternoon when it happened, and we got back home around 10:30 that night. I recall the latter because my favorite TV show was half over with, but that was okay, because it turned out to be a repeat. This was in a small city, population around 15k.

[tencats]

77. Table saw accident, two fingers made contact with ripping blade.

Immediately knew I would need help with it and walked over to a neighbors business. It was about 2 PM on a Tuesday. I was helped with a quick transport to the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, city of Chicago IL. Walked in the emergency room entrance and took a position in a line waiting. At the time of the accident I had grabbed paper towels and wadded them up around my wounded fingers. I had a real good bleed going and it continued bleeding well after I arrived at the hospital. Keeping pressure on the wound with my free hand after awhile checked the blood flow. I could feel a deep area where the flesh and skin were cut away. After waiting in line about 30 minutes I started checking my time waiting. Another hour passed and no hospital personal had ever come near me or the others in front of me or behind me in line. The only people being served were those brought in by the ambulances or the police, it was non-stop with new arrivals. Several people waiting in line seemed worse off then me and one women ahead of me couldn't not stand without help. The security guards were all around though and kept ordering everyone to stay in line and get their ids ready. Then I just walked out and took a cab back to my shop. I got a large variety of bandages and bottles of hydrogen peroxide, didn't do any work for five days and then went slow getting back to using the damaged hand. It healed and filled in fairly well. The one finger that got the worst of it remains mostly numb.

[NickB79]

78. Passed out at work, landed facefirst on the floor

I was out for about 5 seconds before coming back to, and by then my coworkers were already going for the phones, calling the supervisor, calling 911. I had a cut on my upper lip and a big goose egg forming on my forehead.

I didn't think I was in that bad of shape so I declined an ambulance ride, and my supervisor drove me 10 miles to the local urgent care clinic in the southern metro area of the Twin Cities. After 10 minutes of paperwork and 5 minutes of waiting I was in the exam room. The nurse got my vitals, then the doctor was in about 10 minutes after that. He thought I was probably fine, but wanted to get a CAT scan just to be safe. He had me transported 18 miles by ambulance to a St. Paul hospital. After waiting for quite a while for the results of the CAT scan, I was released. When my girlfriend finally took me home, it had been 5 hours since my accident.

Thankfully we have very good health insurance, so I didn't pay anything. The ambulance bill took a month to get sorted out, but that was also covered in full. The ambulance bill for a 20-minute ride was $1700! I can only imagine what the grand total was for my little trip, especially with the CAT scan, but it made me realize just how important health insurance is in this day and age. If I had to pay that amount out of pocket, it would have buried me in debt.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

80. I was in a car crash in 1999

I lay on a gurney from about 11PM to 3AM, during which time I was given an MRI (or was it a CAT scan?) to make sure that I had no internal injuries.

I never saw how much it cost, because I was in a car owned by my mother and stepfather (someone T-boned us), so it was all on their insurance.

However, back in Oregon in the early 1990s, I was once called upon to interpret for a Korean man who spoke Japanese and who had an infected sore on his foot. They basically gave him some stuff to soak his foot in and bandaged it up. The charge was $115.

[LeftyMom]

81. False labor, I didn't see the bill, I was taken straight to Labor and Delivery for monitoring, urban

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

82. Took the wife in

for Pancreatitis

50$ co-pay

about 20 minutes to get the Nurse and 10 after that for the doctor..

--

I love the medical system in the Twin cities, it really is way better than NYS!

[colinmom71]

83. The day after Christmas 2004...

I went in for extreme left sided back pain and was diagnosed with kidney stones and a severe kidney infection.

It took about 15-20 minutes for me to be triaged and about another 1/2 hour before I saw the ER physician. Since I reported pain at about 9 on the 1-10 scale, my triage notes indicated for a faster response. It certainly felt like I'd waited longer though! Total time in the ER was about 4 hours, as I had a CT scan and IV meds that knocked me out for a little while.

Total cost I believe was about $2000, which included CT scan, IV meds, IV rental, doctor's exam, etc. We paid our $50 co-pay for ER visits, and our insurance covered all other expenses and the vast majority of my prescription meds afterwards.

I was in a large urban area teaching hospital while we were out of town visiting family for the Christmas holidays.

[Akoto]

84. My mom went for a heart attack.

Suburban area. I can't remember what the bill was, exactly. It was initially in the tens of thousands after factoring in the cost of placing a stent, but this was drastically reduced thanks to a lawyer friend who negotiated on our behalf.

I have to say that they took great care of my mom. She went to her GP first, so the heart attack was already confirmed. Doctors were waiting for her when the ambulance (which was lightning fast, by the way) took her to the ER.

[AngryAmish]

85. I went last night

My daughter fell from a counter onto the floor. She calmed down in five minutes but Mrs. AA was not so easily calmed, so off to Children's Memorial we went.

We saw the triage nurses right away. Saw another nurse 20 minutes later, MD five minutes after that.

Got a CT scan (negative) ten minutes later.

In the ER less than 1.5 hours.

Cost: probably a co-pay but they are usually 15-50 bucks. Cheap.

(Big city teaching hospital).

[underpants]

86. My daughter fell and we got free movie tickets because they took longer than 30 minutes to see her

Nice suburban Catholic hospital


Oh and she was fine.

[BreweryYardRat]

87. Drove a roommate to the ER in Fall 2006.

He had a major allergic reaction to an insect bite/sting -- swollen all to hell, and threw up a couple times while waiting in the ER.

Didn't see the bill, but he had insurance.

Took about 40 minutes, but the ER was fairly busy that afternoon.

Urban environment.

[knitter4democracy]

88. I went in right before Thanksgiving.

I was really ill, and I started getting spacey and had a fever, so Hubby started thinking UTI, which is bad since I lost a kidney a year and a half ago and have to really protect the one I've got left.

We'd met our deductible, so it ended up being free, but for a $30 copay. They kept me for a bit, ran heart tests, put me on ringers (only the second time ever anyone's gotten an IV in on the first try), screened me for UTI (not that), and had me rest for a bit.

The whole bill ended up being a couple hundred, from what I remember, but the insurance covered it. If that happened today, we'd owe the whole thing because we haven't met our $2400 deductible yet.

[nadinbrzezinski]

89. When my dad broke his hip

and it cost an arm, and a leg and a first born... he has no insurance

Problem is if you need the medical care, you need the medical care

Oh and how long it took to leave? Out of the ER eight hours, out of the hospital a month. will be walking in ten days or so, (with a walker)

[Mz Pip]

90. Went in an ambulance

that was at my house in 5 minutes. I was seen right away.

The whole thing cost $50 since that's what my ER co-pay is. I live in an urban area.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

91. Grade 3 A/C Separation

Took them about 5 minutes to get me in, gross (lots of, not eewww nasty) deformity seems to get you in quick, they are a very efficient ER never have to wait more than 20 minutes. Had IV started, morphine, x-rays, figure eight splint/brace. Cost to insurance $1200.00, cost to me $50.00 initially, I think around $300 total. That's was on a sunday had surgery 3 days later, one night in the hospital post surgery. Total cost on that one was around 30,000 or 40,000 for surgery and 3 months of rehab. I paid $360.00 out of pocket. Suburban area hospital in a medium size city in the southeast with huge health care industry and lots of hospitals very close by. Very good experience and I do realize I'm fortunate before anyone jumps down my throat.

David

[Broken_Hero]

92. Okay

What did you go in for?Severe chest pain, and severe pain in my left calf...

What did it cost?I don't know how much the ER visit cost, but the total bill, for 5 days in the hospital(including ER) was around 37k

How long did it take for you to get in to see your doctor (or a doctor)?No idea, I was so out of it, the first time I remember seeing one, was around 11am in the moring, about 10/12 hours after I got in

ON EDIT:

Also, are you in an urban, suburban or pastoral environment?At the time, I was a student, spending my summer out in Sacramento. BTW, this was July of 03

[DarbyUSMC]

93. Small town hospital.

Cat puncture that needed lansing. (I have one cat who thinks she is still a kitten.) Was given prescription for antibiotic; altogether, less than a two hour experience including the wait, the treatment and getting "discharged". Printout came in from my insurance company; the charge was over $700. No meds were dispensed; a small bandage was applied after the lansing.

I have three insurances with Medicare being the first payer; Excellus the second and if by chance something isn't covered then NYS Medicaid will pick up the slack. That is never the case however. I pay to have Medicaid as, even though I live below the "poverty" level, I'm only eligible if I send in over $120 a month. In actuality the only thing they pay for is my transportation to and from the bloodletting three times a week. They used to cover drugs but when Medicare part D came in, people on NYS Medicaid were assigned or picked a provider and pay a small co-pay on prescriptions. It is cost effective for the state to pay the premium for Medicaid eligible Medicare participants. Altogether my insurance premiums, per month, including what is taken out of my SSD check equals almost $400.

I could not afford to live in a warm climate; in a city or in any housing other than that available for seniors or disabled people in a rural type county such as the one where I live. That said though --- I am eligible for approx. $70 in food stamps to supplement my food budget and my utilities are included in my rent which is based on my income, medical expenses etc. Because I don't smoke, drink or gamble, I'm OK. And because many of the medical facilities within a hundred mile area are associated with the University of Rochester et al. the medical care is accessible to people like me. As far as I can ascertain, the uninsured are not turned away from any of our ER's.

Perhaps more info than you were looking for. I worked for the Dept. of Social Services for many years in a rural county so I am savvy as to the ins and outs of how they systems work etc. Not so for a good percentage of low income or disabled or elderly people out there. There are programs in many states that would help many people but they don't go looking for people to participate, so many who could get help, are left out in the cold. Also there are paper work requirements that overwhelm many. Many of the elderly or disabled need a family member or friend to advocate for them if they become chronically ill or have needs that aren't being met.

[Doctor Cynic]

94. Last time was in December 2003

Had a serious bout of stomach flu and was vomiting acid. We got to the hospital 15 minutes away, and we waited less than 15 minutes. The doctor gave me some IV drip and I slept for a few hours. In then end I was charged nothing.

I have yet to see how the supposedly evil socialistic Canadian health care system handles life-threatening matters, but this time I got good service at no charge.